There lived a man of old age with a generous plot of land surrounding his country house. His garden was filled with flowers of all colours and fruit trees, from which he picked from directly in the summertime. Unfortunately, he was not fit enough to tend to his entire garden, and so he had a gardener to help.
The gardener was a nice man and generally humble. He’d looked after the garden for a long time. One day shortly before the springtime, the lawnmower broke, and so he asked the old man what to do.
The old man asked the gardener to kindly go to the shops one day soon and buy a new one. The old man gave him enough money to buy a premium lawnmower.
A few days later, the gardener went to the shops in search of a new lawnmower. Initially, he started in the premium section of lawnmowers, browsing the ones which matched the value of money the old man had provided, but gradually worked his way down the aisle to the cheaper options.
“Would it be so wrong to buy something cheaper and keep some money to myself?” the gardener pondered to himself.
The old man was sad when he saw his gardener using the new lawnmower.
Throughout spring and summer, the grass grows quickly. The gardener found that he needed to complete several rotations around the garden as opposed to the one rotation the previous lawnmower cut the grass in.
By mid-summer, the lawnmower was already failing to cut the grass at all.
The gardener had no choice but to inform the old man.
“I have something to confess…” started the gardener.
“I know you didn’t spend all of the money I gave you on the lawnmower…” interrupted the old man.
“You bought a cheap lawnmower and kept the remaining money for yourself, however; I’m not mad… tell me… do you enjoy gardening?”
“Yes! Yes, I do, of course, I love to see the flowers standing strong and looking healthy after I have watered them. Looking at the garden after a day’s work… I find appreciation”
“Hmm, so that’s why you have spent more time in the garden over recent months?” the old man chuckled.
“Admittedly, the lawnmower doesn’t cut as well as the previous one, so I have to go over the same sections twice, sometimes three times! It’s annoying because although I enjoy gardening I now have less time to spend with my family… will you report me for theft?” the gardener asked pitifully.
The old man looked at the gardener empathetically.
“I am not sad about you stealing the money. I’m sad that you exchanged the possibility of using a proper tool to enjoy and complete your work efficiently and allow you to enjoy time with your family, for… an instant gratification.” replied the old man.